Prohibited weapons licensing (Australia)

[l_uk3y]

Hey guys.

This thread is specifically targeted to Australia (Particulary from the state of Victoria - local laws)

Wondering if anyone whom has a prohibited weapons license has any tips for somebody looking at applying for one.

I have the forms required however I don't know if I can qualify for a license as I'm unsure if our school is qualified under all these legislations I am reading about on the forms and would hate to be knocked back considering I want to do the right thing. (appears its all down to the decision of the person reading the form).

In particular i'm interested in Butterfly swords (For training purposes)
Also very keen on the idea of collecting several other items for Collecting/Display Purposes. (hook swords/ 3 sec staff / katana, Sai's etc)

Would love to hear feedback from anyone who has had to go through this before as it appears like it could be a painful experience.
Cheers for any guidance.

Luke

 

[Chris Parker]

Hi Luke,

Yeah, the laws are a little odd... you cannot get a metal bladed sword, including iaito (which cannot physically be sharpened without damaging the sword) unless you are a holder of a licence or part of an exempt group... and those exempt groups are Iaido practitioners, Kendo pratitioners, Tai Chi practitioners, and Scottish Dancers. No one else. Obviously the research was not entirely thorough, as any Koryu group isn't covered, Ninjutsu/Jujutsu groups are not covered, Wu Shu groups are not covered, we all have to go through this issue to be able to own the weapons that we train with. And really, Scottish Dancers?

Okay, got that out. The best advice I can give is that you need to demonstrate your reasons for needing the licence. You list your art as Hapkido, and are interested in Butterfly Swords? Are you also training in Wing Chun? What is your reason for wanting these items? The clearer you can be on that, the easier it will be, and the better chance you will have. One of the last steps is that you will have an interview (often over the phone) about what you want the exemption for, and why you feel you need it. If you don't have a reason that the officer who calls you considers valid, they will recommend that you do not get approved. I'm not going to say what to say here, as I don't want to give ideas to people who really have no reason to have such a licence, but if you legitmately have a reason, you don't need me to give them to you.

This is not the end of issues, however. I once went through an ordeal dealing with Customs over an order that was coming to me from Japan of a training item, a Chigiriki, which I had designed and custom ordered. It was based on something that my supplier had already provided me with, and had cleared Customs easily, however this new one was stopped. When I was made aware of it being stopped, I asked why, and was told that it was a prohibbited item under their guidelines, as it was technically classed as a mace. I pointed out that 1. They had let an almost identical item through some six months earlier (in fact, the earlier one was a kusari gama, and was more offensive looking than the new one) and 2. I had a prohibbited weapons licence, which stated that I was licenced to "buy, sell, own, use, import, cause to be imported..." a large range of items, one of which was specifically this one.

I was told that they coudn't tell me why the earlier one went through, this guy would have stopped it as well, and the licence meant nothing as this was Federal Customs, nothing to do with a purely Victorian licence. This went on for about a week or so, as I got them to send out the forms I would need to get it released, if I could prove sufficient grounds. In the end, I simply pointed out that their definition of "a mace" did not match my item, so they should send it immediately. They got approval (via some very quick pictures being sent to Canberra for authentification) within a day to get the Chigiriki sent to me, with many apologies. Fortunately for me, my father used to be fairly high in Customs himself, so he helped me figure out what needed to happen. Without that, I'm not sure if I would have gotten my little toy, licence or no.

There are other ways, though. Without putting it out here, PM me for the details if you want.

 

[Tez3]

Scottish sword dance!

 

[Nishibi Ryu]

Psssst, over here,

Drive across the border and drive back!!!!!!

 

[K-man]

Scottish sword dance!

Tez, is that really you?

 

[l_uk3y]

Psssst, over here,

Drive across the border and drive back!!!!!!

All I have to say to that. Is "lol".

I trained Wing Chun for about 6 years and was at the stage of learning butterfly sword form for my next sash using another members weapon.
The class ended when our Sifu left town and went to Russia I believe it was
(all very sudden and controversial for most of us).
After about 2 years off I have restarted training with our most senior student from back then (He got our schools "black" but never got to "gold") There is only a few of us training in his shed so yes. I am training Wing Chun but it is by no means affliated with any major club (We are working on it). Hence I still need to finish off my sword form and progress it from there. (Training Monday nights and at home)

Yes I also learn Hapkido (2 - 3 nights per week depending on Wife's mood) and this school is linked into its appropriate association. (Only cover some staff and rubber knife defense however)

Whilst I believe my training and purpose is 100% justified and I have no intentions of using/possessing them for training outside of my house or MA club. I just don't think training swords out of residential garage with no recognized "grandmaster" sounds like a very legit story to somebody of "higher authority". Hence I don't like my chances of just going in Willynilly applying without really knowing what I'm in for. If I'm going to apply I want to take the application seriously.

Luke

 

[Chris Parker]

Hmm. As I said, there are ways around this....

But the other thing you may want to know is that, in general, the police officer who interviews you has little to no actual knowledge of what is involved in one martial art or another (in terms of specific weapons or practices), and such understanding was certainly not present when the regulations were written. When I was interviewed, I was asked which specific weapons I wanted, and I included a number that I was simply interested in, rather than only those that I had been taught or was likely to be taught. So you may be able to simply list your reason as "martial art training", and use your connection to the Hapkido school instead of necessarily linking it to Wing Chun. Just so you know.

 

[Tez3]

Tez, is that really you?

I'm going to get my mate up from Taz to come and smack you! Probably once he'd stopped laughing!

I went to school in Scotland and had to suffer endless Scottish country dancing lesons for PE. We wore pretty white dresses with tartan sashes across the shoulder in your families tartan, for crying out loud I'm Jewish what was my tartan going to be lol!